Related
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/11/26/85571/csi-dubai/
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/28/dubai-debt-crisis-rocks-markets-in-us-asia/
Just have a squint at the planning that went into this one. Here’s the latest from Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum. “Our intervention in Dubai World was carefully planned and reflects its specific financial position,” declared the chairman of the grandly titled Supreme Fiscal Committee. “The government is spearheading the restructuring of this commercial operation in the full knowledge of how the markets would react.”
Sadly, the Sheikh did not spell out all the careful planning that went on. First, work out when the 10-day Eid religious festival falls this year. Then, just before you close the markets for the duration, slip out a request from a state-backed company reeling under $60bn (£36.4bn) of loans for a six-month debt standstill. Getting the whole farrago to coincide with America’s Thanksgiving holiday was, it must be said, genius.
At the same conference, Sheikh Mohammed declared: “I want to tell those people who nag about Dubai and Abu Dhabi to shut up.
Jamie Stewart: Europe should not count on an oil-backed Dubai bail out
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/the-dark-side-of-dubai-1664368.html
http://money.cnn.com/2009/11/27/news/companies/Dubai_bank_risks/index.htm
The state-run investment company, Dubai World, owes about $60 billion. It rang up much of that in a building boom that included the world’s tallest skyscraper and the Palm Islands in the Persian Gulf, settlements shaped like palm trees.
According to CMA DataVision, which tracks credit markets, there’s a 35.82% probability that Dubai will default on that debt.
New York-based Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) has the most exposure to default risk at Dubai World, which a J.P. Morgan (JPM, Fortune 500) equity research note estimated at $1.9 billion.
NOTE : CITIGROUP ( which is practically owned by the AMERICAN TAXPAYERS ). More bailouts for a bad decision ??